2. Water Resources Assessment
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3. Water Resources Assessment
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Contents
1. Water Resources Assessment
2. Purpose of Water Resources Assessment
3. Components of Water Resources Assessment
4. Conducting a Water Resources Assessment
5. Content Example
6. Advantages and Disadvantages
7. References
3
4. Water Resources Assessment
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Introduction (1/2)
Water Resources Assessment (WRA) is a classic tool used in Integrated
Water Resources Management (IWRM).
Proposed definitions:
• WRA is the process of measuring, collecting and analysing relevant
parameters on the quantity and quality of water resources for the
purpose of a better development and management of water
resources.
• WRA is the “determination of sources, extent, dependability and
quality of water resources for their utilisation and control.”
(HUBERT n.y.)
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1. Water Resources Assessment
5. Water Resources Assessment
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Introduction (2/2)
WRA is a tool to...
... Evaluate water resources in relation to a reference frame
... Evaluate the dynamics of the water resource in relation to human
impacts or demands.
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1. Water Resources Assessment
Depending on the objective of the
assessment, WRA may look at a range of
physical, chemical and biological features
in assessing the dynamics of the resource.
By conducting a WRA, you are establishing a
common, agreed and trusted information
base that can be used by stakeholders as a
basis for informed and effective decision
making.
Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1214/
[Accessed: 06.01.2014]
6. Water Resources Assessment
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WRA helps clarifying the following issues
• Current status of water resources at different scales, including
inter- and intra-annual variability
• Current water use (including variability), and the resulting societal
and environmental trade-offs
• Scale related externalities, especially when patterns of water use
are considered over a range of temporal and spatial scales
• Social and institutional factors affecting access to water and their
reliability
• Opportunities for saving or making water distribution and use more
productive, efficient and/or equitable
• Efficacy and transparency of existing water-related policies and
decision making processes
• Conflicts between existing information sets, and the overall
accuracy of government (and other) statistics
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2. Purpose of Water Resources Assessment
7. Water Resources Assessment
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When to conduct a WRA
• When you want to improve your sanitation and water system to
make it more sustainable.
• When a comprehensive and large-scale change in the water and
sanitation system is envisaged.
Example:
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2. Purpose of Water Resources Assessment
Aim of the
intervention
•To save water
•To make water
use more
efficient
Conduct WRA
with the aim of
•Identifying
water
consumers
•Understanding
water
consumption
Take an informed
decision about
•Where water
can be saved or
water use made
more efficient
•How water can
be saved or
water use made
more efficient
8. Water Resources Assessment
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Illustration of main components
8
3. Components of Water Resources Assessment
Collection of hydrological
data
(e.g. in data banks)
(water cycle components,
including quantity and
quality of surface and
groundwater, station
information)
Collection of
physiographic data
(e.g. in a GIS)
(topographic, soils,
geology, political borders,
catchment borders, land
use, river network)
Education
and training
Basic and
applied
research
Techniques of
areal
assessment of
water
resources
(regionalisation
techniques)
Water
resources
information
(publications,
maps, etc.)
Users
(planning for
water resources
facilities)
Components of a water resources
assessment (WRA) program.
Source: UNESCO and WMO (1997)
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Explanation of main components (1/3)
9
3. Components of Water Resources Assessment
• Collection of hydrological data: historical data on water cycle
components at a number of points distributed over the assessment
area such as quantity and quality of surface and groundwater.
Discharge history of the Nile and
lake levels at Qarun Lake.
Source:
http://www.paleoresearch.com/UW_Files/archaeo_model
s-nile.html [Accessed: 03.02.2014]
10. Water Resources Assessment
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Explanation of main components (2/3)
10
3. Components of Water Resources Assessment
• Collection of physiographic data: obtaining data on the natural
characteristics of the terrain that determine the areal and time
variations of the water cycle components, such as topography,
soils, surface and bed rock geology, land-use and land-cover.
Subsurface
characterisation of water
bodies.
Source:
http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/karst/kigconferen
ce/jlk_subsurface.htm [Accessed: 03.02.2014]
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Explanation of main components (3/3)
11
3. Components of Water Resources Assessment
• Collection of data from basic and applied research: especially
when some data is missing or the available date is out of date or in
order to develop the required technology used for the water
resources assessment.
• Education and training: all the basic water resources assessment
activities require skilled manpower and this in turn require training
and education of the manpower need.
• Techniques of areal assessment of water resources: techniques of
transforming data into information and of relating the hydrological
data to the physiographic data for the purpose of obtaining
information on the water-resource characteristics at any point of
the assessment area.
12. Water Resources Assessment
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Things to consider
12
4. Conducting a Water Resources Assessment
• Include various experts from different backgrounds
• Identify the most important issues and priority areas in a rapid
water resources assessment
• Include the examination of changes in land use, possible soil
degradation and climate variability and change for large and long-
term projects
• If possible, link the WRA to an environmental impact assessment
• To analyse the change capacity of a river basin and to protect its
water quality and quantity, include a strategic impact assessment.
13. Water Resources Assessment
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Assessments in an IWRM perspective additionally include
13
4. Conducting a Water Resources Assessment
• Demand assessment: examines the competing uses of water with
the physical resource base and assesses demand for water (at a
given price), thus helping to determine the financial resources
available for water resource management.
• Environmental impact assessment and strategic impact
assessment: collect data on the social and environmental
implications of development programmes and projects.
• Social impact assessment: examines how social and institutional
structures affect water use and management, or how a specific
project might affect social structures.
• Risk or vulnerability assessment: looks at the likelihood of
extreme events, such as flood and droughts, and the vulnerability
of society to them.
14. Water Resources Assessment
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A WRA could include the following points (1/3):
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5. Content Example
1. Introduction
2. Country Profile
• Geography
• Population and social impacts
• Economy
• Flood control
• Legislative framework
Example of a Country Water Resource
Profile for Mozambique.
Source: http://nepadwatercoe.org/nepad-water-coes-country-
water-resource-profiles-wwweek/ [Accessed: 21.01.2014]
15. Water Resources Assessment
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A WRA could include the following points (2/3):
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5. Content Example
3. Current Uses of Water Resources
• Water supply
• Domestic uses and needs
• Industrial/commercial uses and needs
• Agricultural uses and needs
• Hydropower
• Stream gauge network
• Waterway transportation
4. Surface Water Resources
• Precipitation and climate
• Rivers and basins
• Lakes and swamps
• Deforestation effects Water uses in Bangladesh, UK and USA.
Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/water_rivers/water_usage_rev1.shtml
[Accessed: 21.01.2014]
16. Water Resources Assessment
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A WRA could include the following points (3/3):
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5. Content Example
5. Ground Water Resources
• Aquifer definition and characteristics
• Hydrogeology
6. Water Quality
• Surface water
• Ground water
• Domestic waste disposal
Water Quality Mapping.
Source: http://www.epa.state.il.us/water/water-
quality/report-1996/ [Accessed: 21.01.2014]
17. Water Resources Assessment
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17
+ Conducting a water resources
assessment provides you with
a comprehensive
understanding of the quality
and quantity of water
resources in your area.
+ Only by having a detailed
understanding of the water
resources in your area, allows
large-scale change in your
water system.
- “Classic” WRA focuses
predominantly on water and
does usually not consider the
nutrient cycle and sanitation.
- Conducting a WRA requires
considerable time and
resources.
- Requires training and
education in order to conduct
a comprehensive analysis.
- Requires a network of experts
who are able to conduct,
analyse and share the data.
6. Advantages and Disadvantages
18. Water Resources Assessment
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18
HUBERT, P. (n.y.): International Glossary of Hydrology. Fontainebleau: Hubert Pierre. URL:
http://hydrologie.org/glu/HINDEN.HTM [Accessed: 06.01.2014].
UNESCO (Editor); WMO (Editor) (1997): Water Resources Assessment. Handbook for Review of National Capabilities.
Geneva and Paris: World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO). URL: http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/hwrp/wrahand.php [Accessed: 06.01.2014]
7. References
19. Water Resources Assessment 19
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